Sasquatch Day 2

Enter day 2 of Sasquatch, a day that started far better than the first day. Why? Instead of an extended nap, I got a full night of sleep - 10 hours!!! - and felt incredible and ready to take on the world. Plus Sheri made eggs, steak, and potatoes for us for breakfast, so my belly was full of deliciousness. Of course going in, no one was really excited about the day's lineup besides myself.

John and I on the shuttle to Day 2

The big bands playing were not super exciting, but there was plenty in terms of smaller bands and comedians to check out, so I figured this would be my day of adventuring the Sasquatch experience and really getting involved with the other stages. Of course, to counter that, we of course got a way better section of grass to lay upon today. In fact, I'd say you really could not get that much better than where we were sitting. It was very ideal, with no obstructions, a clear view and very far up - not to mention perfectly flat (which was way different than day 1).

"Awesome" being absolutely awesome

The first band up today was a band named "Awesome" whom I had never heard of. However, I knew two things - Sheri thought they sounded great and I thought their name was absolutely fantastic - so I had to check them out. Surely enough, they were in fact awesome, as they played a really bizarre form of comedy rock that featured guitar, keyboards, brass instruments, banjo, and five different singers. They were hysterical, and actually sounded like a very good band on top of that, so cheers to them for transcending the limitations the comedy genre lays upon them.

Matt Walsh and Matt Besser (as the Pope) being hilarious

With a bit of a lull in the quality in the music, we went on to check out the comedy tent. This was a really welcome respite on the day, as both segments we saw that day were entertaining. The first one was an Upright Citizens Brigade bit hosted by Matt Walsh and Matt Besser, and featuring stand up performances from Sean Conroy, Tim Meadows, Rich Fulcher, and Jerry Minor. Really, they were all overshadowed by the hosts though who were absolutely hilarious. Matt Besser's impersonation of the Pope was one of the funniest things I've ever seen live in comedy.

Cold War Kids

After comedy and Seattle hip hop group Blue Scholars finished up, I had the tough stretch of my day where I had to jump between a bunch of bands I really liked. Up first were Cold War Kids, who brought their trademark brand of soul powered rock to life very, very well. I'm a big fan of the band, and I thought they played very tight and sounded fantastic. I have to admit, I was saddened that I did not get to see personal favorite track "Hospital Beds" performed, but what are you going to do.

White Rabbits

The reason I missed out on that track was because I had to run off and catch White Rabbits, who were playing a side stage half an hour after Cold War Kids had started. As I have become quite enthralled with their debut album Fort Nightly, it made perfect sense that I abandoned the band whom I was looking forward to really just one more track. Also, I find that the two bands sound fairly similar, but I must admit - Cold War Kids were superior performers. They both sounded fantastic, but Cold War Kids brought a higher sense of energy and passion, while White Rabbits felt like the cool kids who didn't need to try as hard.

Still, a very good performance.

Lazy bastards!

Afterwards, I went back to the mainstage to catch Tegan and Sara and ran down to quickly take some shots and to watch them for a bit as Rogue Wave was starting on another stage 30 minutes after their start as well. When I returned to the blankets to say hello and to get a drink of water, I found the above situation - everyone laying in the sun asleep! What the beep right? We're at a festival and everyone is asleep! Crazy kids. No less, I understand because Tegan and Sara were good but kinda boring. Good banter, but it wasn't exactly the most intense of performances.

Rogue Wave

Rogue Wave was not disappointing, as they were a band I originally greatly disliked but somehow turned it around to like them quite a bit. They sounded perfect, moving from their newest release all the way back to their original release and managing to always sound better than their recorded sound. They weren't very energetic, but their incredible grasp on their sound was enough to make it a special and very entertaining performance. I was saddened though, as my back was absolutely killing me so I raced back off before their set was finished so I could chill on the blankets before Mates of State.

This led to me catching the Presidents (of the United States of America), a band that most everyone knows from their mid 90's hits but one that a lot of people likely don't even know exists anymore. To paraphrase Erik, they were the living embodiment of mediocrity, sounding decent but doing absolutely nothing very well and for sure nothing to get excited over.

Mates of State

After that, John, Sheri, and I raced off to catch Mates of State. This couple band makes some very cutesy pop, and they sounded fine, but once again they weren't too exciting. They were cute as all get out, but nothing about them really stood out as exceptional besides that. After about 7 songs, we made the extremely wise decision to head off and get in line for Brian Posehn's stand up set.

Brian Posehn being hysterical

I had never seen Brian Posehn's stand up before. That's the truth. Many people had told me he was absolutely hilarious, and I knew exactly two things about him: he reads/writes comics (sweet!) and loves basset hounds (score for Sheri!). Besides that, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

What it ended up being is one of the funniest stand up sets I've ever seen. He was dirty, he was ridiculous, he was self-deprecating, he was absolutely hysterical. His jokes ranged from hilarious stories about Dennis Rodman, to tales of his basset hounds, to observations about bands near and dear to the Sasquatch crowd (what he said about the Kooks was especially hilarious - sadly enough, I was missing them to see Posehn, but it was worth it). He was ridiculous, but most of all, he was ridiculously entertaining. Loved every minute of his set, and it was one of my best choices of the weekend to go see him over the Kooks.

Death Cab for Cutie pre-nightfall

Death Cab for Cutie post-nightfall

Death Cab for Cutie

After that, we departed and grabbed some food before Death Cab for Cutie came up. You all may have heard of that band. You know, recent #1 debut on the Billboard charts, trendsetters for the indie crowd, and an all-around beloved Pacific Northwest band. They kicked off their set with the opening track from their new album, "Bixby Canyon Bridge," and then went into a run through of tracks from many of their releases.

Even though their set was incredible sounding and they had great rapport with the crowd, I must admit I was a tad disappointed. For the most part, they played a very similar set to what I had seen them do before (plus songs from new album Narrow Stairs), and they also shyed away from tracks off older albums - no "405," no "Movie Script Ending," no "Blacking Out the Friction."

Hmmph.

No less, they sounded great and even better they had a very desirable set time. They played at sunset (as you may be able to tell from above) and the visuals the Gorge provided for us as the audience was nothing short of glorious. Great performance, and one of the most beautiful looking sets I'll likely ever see. Every dot really connected for this set, although I'm fairly certain I was the only person in the group who thought so.

After their set, the Cure was coming on right as Sheri and I were being rejected for our dream - attending the premiere of the Flaming Lips movie Christmas on Mars. It was premiering in a circus tent nearby, but the tickets were all given away and we had no hope of picking them up. Dejected, we watched a good hour plus of the Cure. How were they? In a word, robotic. They seemed like they had done everything they'd already done 1,000 times (which they have) and it really dragged down their set. Not only that, but they all kind of looked like monsters at this point.

We bailed on that, and of course went back to the site to find John's diabetes medicine missing 45 minutes later, leading us to travel back to the Gorge to find the Cure still playing. They ended up playing for 2 and a half hours, and we ended up finding John's medicine. Thank god! Also, thanks to the random stranger who found it and took it the lost and found. You're literally a life saver.

Band of the day

As good as the smaller bands were, Death Cab was very good and stood out amongst the rest. They sounded great as they always do, and their set time really gave them a little somethin' somethin' on everyone else.

Surprise of the day

"Awesome!" "Awesome" kicked the day off in proper fashion, entertaining and dazzling us with their strangely phenomenal musical abilities. They may not be nearly as good recorded, but they definitely entertained me for all of their set.

Disappointment of the day

I missed the Kooks! I'm a big fan of their new release Konk, and I was saddened to miss them. The mere fact that I got to see Brian Posehn makes up for that though.

Day 2 grade: B+

Bands/comedians seen: "Awesome," Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Tim Meadows, Sean Conroy, Rich Fulcher, Jerry Minor, Blue Scholars, Cold War Kids, White Rabbits, Tegan and Sara, Rogue Wave, the Presidents, Mates of State, Brian Posehn, Death Cab for Cutie, the Cure.

An improvement on the first day as I achieved a far greater variety and saw a lot bands I was interested in seeing in. Nothing that touched M.I.A.'s singular peformance, but a lot of very solid performances from bands I really enjoy. Looking good going into day 3 though, as that was my favorite day coming in.